


Pretend it's Home

by EucalyptusKisses (orphan_account)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. References, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Assistant Darcy Lewis, Aunt Peggy Carter, Awesome Sharon Carter (Marvel), Body Modification, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Clint Barton & Darcy Lewis Friendship, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Darcy Lewis's iPod, Deaf Character, Deaf Clint Barton, F/M, Gen, Manipulative Nick Fury, Minor Jane Foster/Thor, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, New York, New York City, Nick Fury Knows All, Not Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Compliant, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Not Iron Man 3 Compliant, Not Really Character Death, Oblivious Thor, Past Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, SHIELD Agent Darcy Lewis, Sneaky Nick Fury, Spoilers, Thor Is Not Stupid, Tony Being Tony, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-28 02:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10821645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/EucalyptusKisses
Summary: S.H.I.E.L.D. University is located in the bustling state of New York, and recruits students from all over the world who are just a little bit special. Instead of preparing to become a professor or software engineer, they learn how to utilize their gifts. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, you end being so much more then just a student.Or: the college AU version of how the Avengers came to be.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of a fix-it fanfiction, because I didn't always agree with what happened in the Marvel movies. I know they're drawing from the comics, but I wasn't really happy that the Avengers split up in 'Captain America: Civil War' - because seriously, what happened to compromising and actually discussing shit with people whose opinions you disagree with. 
> 
> I don't know. There's just stuff I wish they could have explored more, or gone down a different avenue. So that's what this fanfic is.
> 
> Also, I will be referencing a lot of different superheroes, hence why I listed so many in my tags. But I am focusing specifically on the Marvel Avengers and their friends. 
> 
> As always, comments are appreciated so I can improve this story.

**Natasha Romanoff**

  
She had been contacted when she was sixteen by the president of an American university about her possible enrollment there. Since she was in no position to apply for higher education, Natasha wasn’t clear on how - and where - this Nick Fury had gotten her contact information. Therefore, she had no interest in attending. Besides, even in Russia she hadn’t been able to escape the rumors of S.H.I.E.L.D. University. It might brag as being a prestigious, but in truth, it was nothing more then a day-care for spoiled, wealthy young adults who wanted to be told they were _special_.

  
  
Two years later, Natasha’s mind had changed drastically because the situation she found herself in was drastically different from how she’d pictured her life going. Graduating from the Red Room meant going into a world where she was one of the world’s top assassins. She wanted some forgiveness for seeing a long, cold life ahead of her. Of course, the reason Natasha had that perspective on life was because of the suddenly blatant lack of bodily autonomy she had experienced. They had given her a hysterectomy she’d never agreed to. She had been bent and molded and trained to fit what others wanted her to be. So what better way to stick it to all the authority figures in her life then to call Nick Fury and ask if there was still a spot reserved for her in S.H.I.E.L.D. University?

  
  
It went against all her training, all her instincts. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it was certainly _something_. Maybe, if things panned out well, she could go back to the Red Room and say she was just being a mole for them, to give them information on whatever they wanted so they could bring down future American enemies - and whoever else was stupid enough to go to the states. Natasha could say she was just doing it for them.

 

She felt torn in a way that made her still feel whole. How did one cope with that?

 

 

* * *

 

 

 **Bruce Banner**  
  
S.H.I.E.L.D. University wasn’t his idea. It absolutely _wasn’t_. He had enough childhood trauma on his hands. Had enough nuclear physics education to work through if he wanted to get the doctorate he’d always dreamed of having. Besides, it was _hard_ having to deal with DID on top of everything else.

 

But maybe, Bruce had supposed, maybe S.H.I.E.L.D. University could be his salvation for the time being. It could be the escape he’d been looking for. This wasn’t going to be a normal university. He wouldn’t have to spend all four years there; he could stay there for one. Just to please Fury and give the powers that be the data they wanted (which was, he was guessing: how did a group of special people handle being together on one campus, and could any of them - all of them? - be trained to be superheroes?). Then he could leave.

  
  
It would be only nine months.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Clint Barton**

 

  
S.H.I.E.L.D. University was giving him a full ride. Higher education was already expensive as shit, and if you added on the fact that Clint was partially deaf, then it just got harder. But Fury wanted to offer a full scholarship just because of who he was.

  
  
Who could say no to that? Clint knew he’d be getting access to the top professors and academics this country over. So he wasn’t smart enough to go here, and maybe everybody would realize that in time. Maybe Fury would realize his mistake in asking Clint to come here.

 

  
Clint was embarrassed, because seriously, how long could he fool everybody into thinking he belonged at a school like S.H.I.E.L.D.?

 

  
  
Then again, maybe he could find out. He hadn’t heard back yet from anywhere else he’d applied, so . . . S.H.I.E.L.D. University it was.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Tony Stark**

 

He was one of the few people here on Earth that hadn’t been recruited by Nick Fury, probably because of the fact that his name had secured him a spot from the second Maria and Howard Stark had announced that they were going to have a child.

  
Tony was used to being a special person, used to being in the spotlight. After the death of his parents, he’d needed something to fill the hole inside him their absence left. Anything would do. Most people would turn to drugs or drink, maybe develop disordered eating. He turned to technology. Everybody expected him to be like his father, but what if he could be better? Exceed all their expectations?

  
  
S.H.I.E.L.D. University would be the place where he could shine. Then he could go to M.I.T. for his graduate degree, and really take the world by storm.

 

* * *

 

 

**Thor**

 

He’d been banished to Midgard. Where else was he supposed to go? Nick Fury said he could take him in, so “school” was where Thor was going. Everything would be provided for him. Thor decided he’d only be here for a few weeks at most, until he could get Mjölnir back from New Mexico. Then his parents would realize their mistake, and would bring him back.

 


	2. Freshman Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't exactly what I had in mind, but I wanted to get this chapter out. I won't be adding their sophomore year until sometime next week or in two weeks. My summer is shaping up to be a lot more busy then I planned because my workplace is so shortstaffed this month and next. 
> 
> Sorry for the relatively shitty chapter; it's not as detailed as I wanted. When this fanfiction is done, I'm going to go back and edit it. 
> 
> As I've said before, comments about how I can improve this are appreciated.

Natasha Romanoff was trying to remember why she was at S.H.I.E.L.D. University - or SU, as other students here called it. She didn’t know why they were shortening the name either. None of of them had jobs; they could all take the time to actually say words, instead of abbreviating them. However, Natasha couldn’t exactly complain. Nick Fury had promised that if the school thing worked out, she could be in charge of her career. More or less. She could take or refuse whatever assignments she wanted.

  
  
The promise of choice was alluring and terrifying. It had never been an option in the Red Room. Choice meant freedom, and she could barely handle how much she had now. It was almost enough to make her implode. And choice hadn’t been enough to draw her away from the Red Room at first. Leaving could be lethal. But so could staying.

  
  
Her mind had been changed eventually. As it always was.  


 

* * *

  
  
“I am Wanda,” the redhead said to her.

  
  
Natasha nodded at her. She wasn’t going to do the whole ‘let’s shake hands and pretends we’re going to be best friends’ thing. It was too easy for someone to take physical advantage of her that way. “I’m Natasha,” she replied.  
  
  
They were roommates.

  
  
It was kind of horrifying.

  
  
Wanda’s side of the room looked like an explosion from a Macy’s or J.C. Penny’s catalog: there were a few cute picture posters of cities - the same one, Natasha was almost sure of it - hanging on the wall. Satin white and gray blankets adorned the top of Wanda’s neatly made bed, with black and white polka-dotted sheets to cover the twin-size mattress, along with two cushy pillow. Her desk was neat. There was a laptop on it, a lamp, a vase filled with lilies, a full pencil holder, colorful post-it notes, and a book (Othello). Wanda’s clothes were already put away in her closet, and some textbooks lined the edge of her desk in a neat stack - any binders or notebooks that might have gone with them were either nonexistent or put away.

  
  
Wanda was also wearing leggings, a pencil space skirt, and a white shirt.

 

  
Natasha was so confused by the ensemble she couldn’t tell if her roommate was pulling it off or looked stupid - maybe that was the point.

  
  
“Where are you from?” Wanda queried. She sat down awkwardly on her bed. Her fingers were weaving around a piece of pink string.

 

  
Natasha shrugged. “Doesn’t matter where I’m from. It just matters I’m here.”

 

  
“I am from Transia.” Wanda looked pleased to share this information. “My mother died when I was born - I have a twin. Pietro. He attends this school as well.”

 

“That’s nice.”

  
  
“Well . . . are you excited to be here? Since it only matters you’re in New York?”

 

 _Why is she trying so_ hard _?_ Natasha wondered, exasperated. After quirking her lips undefinably, she gave up wondering. And answering. She just put in her earbuds and laid across her bed. When she looked over, after finished a sixteen song playlist, Wanda was gone from the room.  


 

* * *

 

There were five classes she was taking this semester: Mandarin Chinese, Principles of Macroeconomics, Organic Chem (plus a lab), Journalism & Media Communications, and Intro to Psychology. Natasha was beyond baffled. S.H.I.E.L.D. University was for special people - she wasn’t known for her smarts. She wasn’t here because she was smart, she was here because of her combat abilities and training.

  
  
Hell, _Wanda_ wasn’t. The girl could manipulate reality, her brother was fast as the speed of light (probably), and a guy called Thor was an actual god. Hell, the only person who had any reputable smarts - that Natasha had heard of - was Tony Stark. T'Challa could give him a run for his money, though; the royal prince from Wakanda was apparently a master of armed combat, and a brilliant tactician, strategist, scientist, and tracker.  

  
Maybe it was for show. Nobody had gotten their spring semester schedule yet. Maybe they’d all start off doing actual college classes, and then transition into learning how to work together in combat and science, and how to work independently.

  


* * *

 

  
In Principles of Macroeconomics, there are four people she can’t stand: Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Thor, and Tony Stark. _Especially_ fucking Tony. He’s loud and obnoxious, drinks semi-regularly, and practically wilts when the spotlight isn’t on him. Tony likes to brag constantly about his latest inventions, what his company is up to, and how he’s practically a “legacy child” (his words, not Natasha’s), because Howard Stark “probably would have gone here, if SU had existed when my father was my age”.

  
  
Thor is pompous and arrogant, but it’s not loud the same way Tony’s personality and quirks are. It’s beyond aggravating. One arrogant douchewad would be enough, but two? Natasha’s convinced she’s paying for her sins by having to be in their presence three days a week.

  
Clint is too quiet and reserved. She hasn’t decided if that means he’s a show-off or not. Barton doesn’t show off - at least, not yet. He’s not trying to establish himself. Mostly, he barely speaks, and scores well on tests and homework. Natasha’s wary because Clint seems a lot like her in some regards. It’s easy to forget he’s there, but maybe it’s not wise to do that.

  
  
What can Natasha say about Bruce? Besides the obvious, of course. He’s tightly coiled. Nat’s just scared of the day when he finally snaps and goes green. Staying away from him is best, really. On the other hand, she feels sorry for him. Bruce isn’t treated badly to his face, technically, but she knows people see him as a monster. She knows what it’s like to be treated like one when you know you aren’t.

  
  
There are only a few other people in this class: Pietro (annoyingly enough, because apparently she can’t escape the Maximoff’s), Sharon Carter, Melinda May, and Scott Lang (he keeps trying to nickname himself Ant-Man. Natasha wonders when someone will tell him that other people have to give you nicknames).

  
  
Those people are forgettable.

  
  
—  


“To illustrate the shift of a change in demand, let us take a look at a publication in _The Wall Street Journal_.”

 

Tony doesn’t raise his hand. “I actually think that the Journal mentions - ”

  
  
Dr. Strange looked sardonically at him. “Mr. Stark. I see no one else has the balls to tell you this, so the burden has fallen to me. Talented though you may be - and smart as well - I do not appreciate the unnecessary reminders of your company.”

  
“But this time it _is_ relevant.” Tony sounds pissed, and probably looks it too. His voice is insistent.

  
  
Natasha snaps out of her daze. It was a late night last night and she’s still hungover.

  
  
“War sells, Tony. I’m well aware. But it is not the only thing that sells. Moving along, now.” Dr. Strange continues on with his lecture.

  
  
When Tony tries to keep speaking, the doctor marks something on a piece of paper. It happens a lot throughout this particular class. But it’s not until the afternoon that Natasha learns what happened. For every time Tony spoke out of turn, a point was docked off his current grade. It dropped from a 105% to a 70% in the course of one class.

 

Principles of Econ is a general ed. class, meaning most of the students - if not all - have to take it. It doesn't seem to matter who teaches the gen. ed. classes, so Natasha sees him in her Organic Chem class and lab in addition to this one. Natasha's always been neutral toward Dr. Strange, but she loves him for this snappy display. They’ve all wanted to put Tony in his place. Of course he’s brilliant, and he’s smart, and he’s going to contribute a lot to society, for better or for worse. Nobody likes his arrogance.

  
_Maybe he’ll finally start to realize that that not everything is about him_ , Natasha thinks hopefully.

  
She peers back over her homework.  


 

* * *

  
  
Aside from the Dr. Strange/Tony Stark showdown, the first month of classes and school is uneventful. Natasha finds S.H.I.E.L.D. University to be competitive. Not that she expected anything less. Everybody is desperate to keep shining here. And if they’re not shining, they’re racing to catch up. They’re all desperate to show that not only do they deserve their spot here, but that they can keep the spotlight on them.

  
  
Natasha’s pretty sure that someone like Jane Foster, a young woman in her Journalism and Media Com. class, isn’t used to having attention. No wonder she shies away and simultaneously revels in it a little. Attention is like helium. It makes you feel high. Then you want more when you come down.

  
  
The Red Room was worse then this, so it’s a breeze for Natasha in some ways. In other ways, it’s foreign.

  
  
Everything is off-kilter. She spends a lot of seconds wondering if she made the right choice, if the stone in her belly means bad things are going to happen, or the bad things have already been set in motion.

  
  
Maybe she’s just paranoid.

  
  
Natasha drinks a mixed drink of Vodka and Diet Coke or a Gin and Tonic to help herself fall asleep. It feels good to be bad because it means she’s something. She’s not who she used to be anymore, and that’s scary. It’s exhilarating. It’s better, ultimately, then who she was molded and bent and broken and rebuilt to be.

  
  
Right?  


 

* * *

  
  
Being in a new country, a new state . . . it’s harder then Natasha realized.

 

  
She’s eighteen and feels like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders. How many people know about the Red Room? Can they see the numbed, gray, muted memories trapped right underneath her skin? Do they know she was born to be molded into the perfect killer? Or do people look at her and see a nice girl?

  
  
She was _taken_ , every last bit of her.

  
  
Natasha wonders when she’ll crack.  
  


* * *

 

  
Then the fifth week of school happens.

  
  
Natasha’s various rules of survival are thrown out the window.

  
  
It’s kind of unfortunate, really.  
  


* * *

  
  
Steve Rogers shows up to their Econ class one day.

  
  
That’s pretty much the day when Natasha gets a group of friends, but she doesn’t know it at the time (in retrospect, it’s completely obvious they all became a group. A clique. She hates cliques).

  
It was all over the news that he was discovered frozen in ice. A super soldier from the 1940s brought back to life.

  
  
Of course it makes sense Steve is brought to S.H.I.E.L.D. University. He’s an actual superhero and either barely out of his teens or an old man, depending on how you look at his situation.

  


* * *

  
  
She feels _bad_ for Steve. It’s this sympathy and the impulse to act on it that's the catalyst of events that fuck Natasha over. “Hey. I’m Natasha.” She doesn’t know what else to say, and class is starting in fifteen.

  
  
“You already know who I am,” Steve replies. His voice is three shades short of annoyance, devastation, and continued bewilderment.

  
  
Natasha bristles. This is what she gets for being nice.

  
  
Then: “Did you get surgery?” he asks curiously.

  
  
Natasha gives him a wary look. “Why do you want to know?” It’s true she had her hysterectomy a few months ago, but it shouldn’t be obvious. She’s recovered.

  
  
Steve shrugs. “Your hands flutter around here sometimes . . .” His voice trails off as he gestures to his lower abdomen, presumably either uncomfortable saying “uterus” or ignorant of what female anatomy is there, if any.

  
  
“I did.” It’s really awkward and uncomfortable to say that, and she’d really rather not, so her voice is bitter, quiet. This isn’t really something she wanted to discuss with anybody. Ever. It’s not like they’re _friends_.

  
  
There’s not much else to say - Steve gives her an apologetic look. Natasha is sure it’s obvious she has issues with the procedure that was done. But there’s no time to say anything else, not when Dr. Strange walks into the classroom.  


 

* * *

  
  
“Do you want to get lunch?” It’s a casual question. Steve asks her right when class ends that day.

  
  
Natasha doesn’t, and she’s about to go off on him for assuming they’re suddenly friends just because she said she’d gotten a hysterectomy. Then she remembers she felt bad for him before class, and anyway, it’s probably not a good idea to be bitchy and alienate the one person who’s actively trying to be nice to her. Maybe she can use Steve later on.

  
  
“Sure,” she tells him cautiously. “We can go to a burrito and salad place if you want. It’s two subway stops away; kind of a hole in the wall but really good.”

  
  
Steve nods. “Okay. I just need to put my stuff back in my dorm room. I can meet you at the campus center in fifteen?”

  
  
“Okay. Meet you there then.”  


 

* * *

  
  
Sam Wilson is Steve’s roommate, and he ends up joining them. Natasha is prepared to hate him just like she hates everybody else here at Uni.

  
  
Unfortunately, it’s very hard to hate someone who’s smart, nice, funny, and not a douchebag. Especially if that person doesn’t pry at all with her.

  
  
She’s kind of disappointed. Natasha’s main rule of survival is that you don’t care about or trust anybody but yourself. That way, you never get hurt. You never get betrayed. Nobody ever lets you down. It forces you to be a lot more self-reliant and careful, but that’s fine.

 

  
“You will not believe this guy,” Sam says when Steve is ordering. He and Natasha are sitting in a booth opposite each other. “Steve’s a _punk_. We go running together a few days a week. He just shows off how fast he can run in an hour and a half while I’m lucky if I can do ten miles before class.”

 

  
Natasha raises a slim, carefully waxed and plucked eyebrow. “He’s basically on steroids. What are you expecting?”

  
  
Sam laughs. “Yeah, I know. It’s just that I’m going to go into the USAF, so it feels weird that this ex-military guy still has me beat at his old age.” He drinks some of his water, then says, “I want to work my way up to being a Senior Airman there. I’ve got ideas about creating these falcon wings . . .”

  
  
Steve comes back then, and they’re talking about Sam’s dreams. Which gets them into Steve’s insecurities about living in the twenty-first century, and his grief over Bucky dying and Peggy in the hospital.

  
  
That puts things into perspective for Natasha, even if the two guys don’t realize it. She’s almost positive that Sharon Carter, one of their peers at Uni, is somehow related to Peggy. Maybe she had a daughter. It would explain the last name thing and why Sharon acts weird around Steve.

  
Natasha just mentions growing up overseas and learning armed combat, among other things.

  
  
She play-fights with Sam afterwards (she wins one round, he wins the next. They both lose to Steve).

  


* * *

 

  
The eating out once a week thing with Sam and Steve becomes a thing. She never talks to them outside of Econ and lunch at first.

  
  
That kind of changes when Natasha stays a little late after Econ one day. “I think we should take Bruce with us to lunch,” she announces to Steve.

  
  
Steve frowns a little. “Are you sure?”

 

  
She nods. “He’s a misfit. Like us. We might as well try to include him. I shudder to think of what will happen if Bruce never gets any friends.”

 

  
“Well, okay . . . if you’re sure.” He’s trying to not sound doubtful, but it’s obvious Steve has reservations about Bruce.

  
  
Natasha can’t blame him. She definitely does. She’s seen him nearly Hulk-out a few times, and it’s fucking terrifying. But maybe he just needs help feeling desensitized in a place like S.H.I.E.L.D. University, especially when it’s in New York.

 

  
“Hey, Bruce!” Steve calls uncertainly. “Do you want to get lunch with me, Sam, and Nat?”

  
  
Bruce looks at them like he thinks they’ve got the wrong person. “Sure,” he says, and it sounds like a question even though he didn’t phrase it like that.

  
  
“Meet us at the campus center in twenty,” she and Steve reply in unison, automatically.  


 

* * *

  
  
It’s around then that Natasha starts to realize she’s fucked.

  
  
She wasn’t supposed to have friends, and now she’s got three.  


 

* * *

  
  
The last warm days of September slide into chilly October days. There’s a texting group chat Natasha is in with her three new friends, and it’s not really until the first week of October, when it rains, that anything else happens.

  
  
Her, Sam, Steve, and Bruce are holed up in a large study room in the library that they reserved a few days ago. There are too many tests this week. They’re all frantically looking at notes and cramming in one last study session at 11 p.m. before Monday happens and the madness begins.

  
That’s when Natasha also becomes friends with Tony, Clint, and Pepper.

  
  
Tony opens the door to the room, and says, “Do you mind if we - ” he gestures to himself, Clint, and Pepper “ - study in here with you guys? Everywhere else is taken, and I can’t study in my room. It’s too cramped in there.”

  
  
Natasha exchanges a look with Sam, Steve, and Bruce. They don’t really like Tony that much, but if they say yes, it means Clint and Pepper can get in some needed quiet study time. It’s worth it to help those two out. “Sure, okay,” Steve says, ever the diplomat.  


 

* * *

 

  
At 1 a.m., they all order three large pizzas. One is cheese, one is a meat lover’s, and the other has veggies on half and pineapple on the other half.

  
  
It’s supposed to be a celebratory meal, because they’ve gotten a lot of work done in two hours. Tony is still a dick, but he’s a surprisingly good tutor when someone needs help. He drops the self-absorbed, arrogant act. Even he and Sam have warmed up quickly to each other, discussing how to build advanced falcon strap-on wings during breaks.

  
  
“ _God_ , college is a circle of sadness,” Pepper moans. There’s somehow dirt under her nails; Natasha gets a glimpse when Pepper pulls her soft ginger hair into a pony-tail.

  
  
“It didn’t used to cost this much when I was a fine arts student.” Steve just looks mildly put out.

  
  
Sam rolls his eyes. “That’s because you were a student in the 40s, dude. Times have changed. We should really be blaming capitalism.”

  
  
Natasha laughs. After closing her notebook and textbook for Mandarin Chinese, she looks around the room quickly. They’re all stretching. “We should revolt against it,” she announces.

 

  
“What exactly are we revolting against?” Steve asks.

  
  
“I don’t know. Capitalism. Our government. The shitty people who do shitty things in America.” She’s just throwing out ideas. Natasha’s not a rebel. Never has been, never will be. It’s just not in her to revolt.

  
  
Pepper yawns. “You guys need a name if you’re going to inspire a rebellion.”

 

It's odd that she doesn't feel like she's part of the group - Natasha's pretty sure she's been on Tony's beck and call. But she's getting distracted . . . team names have always been kind of stupid in Natasha’s book. A name doesn’t hold people together. It’s everything else. Mainly the cause that united them, though. She kind of regrets saying anything now, seeing as everybody else is chiming in.

  
  
“We should call ourselves S.H.I.E.L.D. Initiative.” That’s Tony’s idea. “I mean, we go to SU. And we’d be the first group of heroes to actually do anything.”

  
  
Bruce rolls his eyes. “You can’t call yourself a hero when you haven’t technically done anything.” Even though he sounds calm - maybe a little annoyed - it startles everybody to hear him talk. He rarely does it. Maybe he still feels shy or reserved about spending time around so many people.

  
  
Tony just shrugs. “So let’s find a reason to be heroes.”

 

  
“I still hate the name,” Steve injects. “Also, the pizza is here, and none of you are allowed to pick a name until I get back.”

 

  
He’s only gone ten minutes, and a few names have been suggested in that time - SU Army, Rogers-Wilson and Co., and McDank Heroes Inc., suggested by Pepper, Sam, and Natasha respectively.

  
  
Steve gets back with the pizzas when Natasha’s suggestion is vetoed. There’s silence after everybody exclaims over the food. Natasha realizes they were all a lot more hungry then they realized; there’s barely enough left for seconds.

  
  
“What if we called ourselves the Avengers?” Clint pipes up. He’s finished eating a slice of veggie pizza. “I mean, it’s kind of self-explanatory, but people would understand we’re the good guys. We’re the ones who fight for justice and against shitty stuff.”

 

  
There’s a chorus of “sure” and “hell yeah, Avengers”.  


 

* * *

  
  
Natasha didn’t expect anybody to take it seriously. She thought that with the stress of so many mid-terms this week, they were all just goofing around. They’re not actually a group of heroes. But it sticks. It persists, because now they’re all getting lunch together at “the burrito salad place” (nobody ever remembers the name) on Fridays and doing shit during the week.

 

  
Thor joins their friend circle when he gets back from a weekend excursion to New Mexico. He gets back Mjölnir from some government quarantined site, and travels back to Asgard briefly. He comes back changed, intending to finish out the school year. Pepper’s friends with Jane, and she’s dating Thor, so it kind of makes sense that Thor is quickly integrated into the “Avengers group”.

 

  
Everybody’s noticed his transformation, the one Jane inspired. But it’s one thing to hear about it and another to witness it in the flesh.

 

  
Natasha thinks it’s weird that she now has so many friends by the time October is over. It’s kind of unnerving, really.  


 

* * *

  
  
It’s at this point when she realizes she is well and truly screwed. Her plan of flying solo through college went to shit pretty quickly. And it’s not like she can just pull away from the Avengers.  


 

* * *

  
  
During Thanksgiving, Tony invites everybody to Stark Mansion. He, Bruce, and Thor start a competition between the three of them that involves taking a lot of shots. Natasha’s in the corner talking to Clint. Steve is getting to know Sharon (because apparently she’s Peggy’s niece, not daughter, and wanted her to come around for at least a bit of the festivity). Pepper, Jane, and Sam are watching the parade on one of Tony’s flatscreen TVs.

  
  
It’s weird and unnerving that she’s starting to care so much about these people.

  
  
Natasha hates it. It’s going against everything she believes.

  
  
“You look put out,” Clint comments at one point during the evening. Surprisingly enough, he has a fondness for bourbon. Not so surprisingly, the mansion is well-stocked, so he’s been steadily working his way the bourbon section throughout the afternoon and evening.

  
  
“No, you’re just drunk.” Natasha gingerly sips at her Long Island Iced Tea. It’s a semi-girly drink. She’s disgusted with herself for both drinking it (this is her fourth) and liking it. This behavior is uncharacteristic. Maybe what people say about college is true, though. It changes you. You start growing up - or just evolve into someone new.

  
  
She still doesn’t know if she likes who she’s becoming. Becoming friends with so many people still doesn’t sit well with her. Natasha has already figured she can’t do much about it, though. They’re all in a little too deep to just casually back out now.

  
  
Clint looks at her, really looks. “I don’t think so. I’m not so drunk I can’t ready body language anymore.” He sips more at his mostly empty cup.

  
  
“I’m not used to having friends.” Which sounds pathetic, even to her ears.

  
  
“Just . . . one day at a time. Okay?” Clint gives her an encouraging look. “Besides, it’s not like you have to stay with us after college if you don’t want to. You don’t even have to stay friends with us now. I don’t think anybody’s forcing you to be here except yourself, Nat.”

  
  
And damn him, he’s right. It’s just that she _cares_ now. Caring makes things complicated. It’s not so easy to just walk away.

 

* * *

  
  
There’s not really any time to hang out with the group after Thanksgiving. They have their last week of classes. Monday is a class day, and then the rest of the week is dedicated to exams.

  
Natasha sees a lot of Wanda then. They both spend a lot of time studying in the room. But Natasha doesn't really talk to anyone. It's so crazy busy that there's just no time. There are final projects to hand in, presentations to do, exams to study for. She's drowning in the best way possible.

 

* * *

  
  
During Christmas, Natasha, Steve, and Sam stay on campus. They have no family to welcome them back to some lovely, imaginary home for the month-long break from school. Thor goes back to Asgard. Tony goes to his mansion.

  
  
Everybody else goes home.  


 

* * *

  
  
The Christmas party at Tony’s place is nice. He hasn’t changed too much, but it’s happening slowly. Pepper is working as his intern (she needs a job, apparently. She’s the only one who can put up with Tony with saintly patience and do everything he needs her to do while maintaining her full-time enrollment at SU). So it’s not a surprise to see her at the party. Even Thor and Jane make a brief appearance.

  
  
Darcy stays a little longer, awestruck at the whole place. Tony enjoys showing off to her for an hour before drifting back to the bar.

  
  
Natasha challenges Sam to Mario Kart, and Steve watches, then demands a turn against her. She annihilates them in-game, and it’s glorious to succeed at it.  


 

* * *

  
  
The spring semester at SU is a lot less exciting then her first semester. Everybody seems to know that Natasha, Bruce, Clint, Steve, Thor, and Tony are the core members of the Avengers - Sam is involved in so much shit on-campus that half the time, people can’t remember everything he does. But they know the Avengers like him. Pepper's like the mom of the group, or maybe the cool, efficient, aunt. Jane, Darcy, and Erik kind of orbit the group.

 

* * *

 

Natasha starts trading a few secrets with Clint, and she becomes the go-to person when someone needs Bruce to calm down. She understands his rage. Steve is the voice of reason, always the cautious, protective, moral dad. Tony is like the wild, reckless cousin they have to put up with and kind of love, or kind of hate, depending on the day. Thor is the goofy rock of the group, and Clint is versatile with his abilities.

  
  
The winter months melt into a chilly spring, but the mood of the group keeps the frosty weather at bay. She gets a job on campus working in the mail center. Thor and Pepper apply to work there too, and the three of them spend time goofing off when nobody’s in there, which means that they spend a lot of time getting to know each other.

 

* * *

 

 

When the year finally does start coming to an end, Natasha starts wondering where she’s going to go. And she wonders how she’s going to say goodbye to these people.

  
  
It makes her feel kind of sick that they’ll all be split up for nearly three months. She’s gotten used to revolving her life around school and her friends. It’s numbingly terrifying that this is what she’s come to, that things have changed so much she can’t go back to being an ice queen.  


 

* * *

  
  
“You should come stay with me over the summer, if you’re so worried about housing,” Tony comments one day.

 

  
Natasha was hoping she could go live with Steve, but he’s already got a leasing agreement on an apartment with Sam, an apartment the two of them are moving into right after exams are over. She can’t exactly force herself onto those guys when they don’t have the space for a third roommate.

 

  
“You’d let me live in your glitzy mansion.” Natasha deadpans Tony.

  
  
“Okay, okay. So a lot of things could go wrong,” Tony admits, hands up. He adds, at her expression. “Okay, so a lot will go wrong. But we’re friends now. Friends should be able to live with each other for a summer in a roomy, five star mansion. Besides, you have nowhere else to go, Nat. New York is an expensive place to live, and there's not much of a point in letting you flounce off on your own.”

  
  
She laughs. “Okay. But you owe me so many frappes and smoothies if you act douchey.”

  
  
“If you start acting like a mercenary, you owe me,” Tony replies.

  
  
And that seems kind of fair, anyway, so she agrees.


End file.
